The Lucky Doberman

Chapter 73: I Can Do It

I was brought with Marco and his father into his father's office.

His printer was currently whirring with the pages that were photographed earlier.

"Who was the guy that ran out of here?" I asked, still curious.
"That was Sebastian. He had to be quick to return the book before Caio could recognize it was missing."
"Why?"
"Too many dominoes fall if Caio doesn't have what he wants. We can't juggle watching out for him and figuring out the code to the book. One problem at a time if we can help it."
"I get it."

All of the sheets printed out and laid there.

"Marco." Mr. Gabriel called.

Marco got up and took the pages out of the printer.

He came back and laid them out on Mr. Gabriel's desk.

While Marco sighed at them and stressfully took a seat, I remembered when Caio made me read the pages to try and decipher them.
I remembered the headache it gave me.
I couldn't remember what I'd read.
It had been six months. I don't think anyone remembers exact things they read after six months.

I contemplated telling the men that I could try. It just hurt so bad. And I was kind of scared of if I'd fail.
What if I took too long?
I was also afraid that...I'd do it...and he'd leave me again.

I looked at Marco as he struggled to try and figure out the pages that were in his hand.
I looked at his father.
He was clearly waiting for a response. I could tell he was hoping his son would figure something out and be his eyes.

"It's just shapes. I don't know." Marco sighed and sat back.
Mr. Gabriel rubbed over his face with his hands. "Right."

He was sad at their struggle.

I tapped Marco's shoulder and he looked at me.
"Can I speak to you for a second, please?" I asked him.
He stood up and I led us to the door.
"We'll be back." he told his father.

We stepped into the hallway and he gently closed the door.

"What's the matter?" he asked me.
I began nervously fumbling with my hands while I tried to explain.
"I can read it..." I stated.
"Bella, you can't read that. It's not code letters or numbers."
"When Caio took me and we waited for you to arrive, he told me to sit there and try to figure it out in hopes that the rumors about my luck were true. It took me hours just to come up with one sentence and I remember it was an address but I don't remember what it was anymore. But I can read it. It hurts my head and it takes a while for me to see it, but I can..."
He looked confused.
"The letters pop out of the shapes." I tried to explain. "Kind of like when the numbers popped out when I looked at the safe. Except it takes longer."
He walked back into the office and I wondered what he was doing.

He went to his father's bookshelf then came back to me.

"You think it works with anything that ain't words or numbers?" he asked and flipped through the book.
"I don't know. What is that?"
He turned it around to face me on a random page. "Some book in Braille."

I looked at the page and tried to focus.

"Nothin'?" he asked.
"I said it takes a minute. Hush."
I knew he rolled his eyes.

I focused again.

I really hoped it would work or else I was gonna seem like a weirdo and a liar in front of him.
I stared even harder.

Three letters flashed out in different orders.

I gasped happily but my eyes ached a bit.
"What?" he asked.
"That's a g...that's an e...and that's an r..." I pointed.
He looked at the page.
"That's it?"
I was offended and looked at him.
"I mean...good. Very nice job." he said dryly.
"You don't care." I looked away.
"I do care." He kissed my head. "We can work with that. If we got most of the letters, we can figure out the rest. It's fine."
"Okay. But I need you to be patient with me. It gives me a headache."
"I won't rush you." he stated and opened the office door to let me walk back in.